Are Patients Ready for Kiosks? « Patient Centric Healthcare

Are Patients Ready for Kiosks? « Patient Centric Healthcare: "Everyone is moving to self-service. Quicker. Cheaper. Privacy. Automated. Etc. There are lots of benefits. Think about all the information which is needed in healthcare along with all the linked processes. If this can be simplified and some of the burden pushed to patients that is great. Now, this will vary by age and demographic. Typically older people will be more hesitant to use automated technology. Just look at your self-service grocery lines. Additionally, you have to watch interpretation of questions. I will never forget the doctor asking my grandfather if he smoked and him saying yes. I asked for a point of clarification and found out he had smoked 35 years ago. I couldn’t find all the examples, but I have talked with vendors using kiosks for checking in to an office or hospital, providing translation services, helping match basic needs with over-the-counter medications, simplifying basic services (e.g., picking up a refill prescription), or for pushing information to the patient. Kiosks blend challenges with physical design (height, location, screen size) with application challenges (number of screens, simplicity, data entry) with business model challenges (costs, advertising (Y/N), patient utilization). But, done right, I clearly see this as key to the future of healthcare. "